The Artichoke Heart of Darkness

“You know you have to go through hell before you/Get to Heaven.” Steve Miller, “Big Old Jet Airliner”

I had two artichokes that weren’t getting any younger. Right now I don’t have a pot big enough to cook them, but an experiment begged to be tried. Let’s strip a bunch of outer leaves off both and throw the stripped leaves in the pot too. Also, since the ‘chokes still have portions above mean high water, let’s turn them constantly.

It wasn’t the best brace of artichokes I ever had, not by a long shot. Even flawless cooking could not improve the meat-to-leaf ratio, and the stripped leaves had hardly any meat at all. And the thistly, bristly fiber atop the hearts didn’t want to yield to the spoon pull/scrape technique–five more minutes of low boil might’ve helped.

But nothing beats an Artichoke Heart. Whether your dipping sauce of choice is Garlic Butter, Red Wine Vinegar and Olive Oil, or (the way I was raised to enjoy it) Mayonnaise, there is always a little bit of heaven at the Artichoke Heart of Darkness.